1. How did the band come together and form? Who thought of the name “As King” and is there any meaning behind it?

The band started when the drummer, Keith Cunningham and guitarist Chuck La Valle continued on playing together after their previous project “Black Thumb” ended. They have been playing together for around thirteen years. The name came about when Keith, Chuck, and former guitarist Dan were introduced to the Black Law dictionary. The Black Law dictionary is a legal dictionary that gives the breakdowns and meanings of words, what they stand for and how they were formed. As King stands for being a leader, ask questions in life and discover the answers. Share your knowledge and stand up for what you believe in. To be as a king. We believe in sharing our knowledge of sovereignty, politics, science and of course music. We want to bring the music scene back to Chicago and put it on the map again as a must see city for music and arts.

2. Your “Self Titled” EP recently got released. How has the response been thus far and what do you want listeners to take away from it?

Overall we have been met with good responses from our listeners. Our E.P. was a very rushed experience, we had 45 days to get the 8 track E.P. recorded and ready for mass distribution in order to be eligible to compete in the 2012 Project Independent. We did it and we were very excited about the experience as a whole, and can’t wait to tour with them this year. We’ve been getting air play on radio and internet radio stations all over the U.S. and internationally. Sales of the E.P. has been slow but steady, we are hoping to release a full length CD before this winter. We think people should take out of it however the album or song speaks to them. We want to motivate and inspire people with our brand of metal. We have a good mix of old and new schools of metal and not one songs sounds alike. We want everyone to rock out and enjoy what we have to offer.

3. How would you describe your music to the average listener?

The way we would describe our sound would be a thick wall of sound that gets created by all five members. Two crunching and riffing guitars both sharing rhythm and lead. Organic eerie overtones with occasional noodling screaming leads. A powerful bass that has the sound of two playing rhythm and lead bass. Solid finger picking with blaring slap techniques. A jazzy but aggressive drummer that keeps timing like a human metronome. A screaming singer that has multiple levels of sound like a three headed banshee. Put together you have a roller coaster of progressive aggressive rhythms.

4. What can people expect from your live show?

In your face, energetic, heavy metal that holds your attention and won’t let go. A mix of up tempo, heart pounding metal with a psychedelic, eerie overtone and an ambiance that can hypnotize you. We have a singer that will scream your head off and control and audience at the same time. An orchestra of brutality that will overtake a venue, and leave you wanting more.

5. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?

Gojira, Machine Head, Parkway Drive

6. You guys have been playing shows for the past year. Any crazy show stories?

Playing with Kill Devil Hill was an amazing experience getting to share the stage with some of your heroes was definitely a very cool experience. Nothing too crazy just getting to meet other bands and party is fun. The metal community isn’t as big as it is today as it was in the past, so to be out there and enjoy the people who still support the scene is a real boost of inspiration.

7. What’s your take on the current state of metal?

We believe the current state of metal is at a low point in its entirety, but will soon be on the rise. There aren’t too many bands that stand out these days and the ones that do don’t tend to last. We believe that the industry has taken a hit not only from piracy, the economy, but from technology as well. No one buys cd’s in the store anymore, what happened to appreciating the art? No one waits in line in front of the grocery store on a Saturday morning with a bunch of other metal heads talking about how amazing the concert will be 4 months from now. A lot of the camaraderie and support is gone at this point in time but we’re working hard to bring it back.

8. What’s the current music scene like there in IL both locally and state wide?

In Illinois there are a lot of bands, tons of different genres, and the rulers of the Illinois music scene is cover bands. They are the bands most people come to see. They are the bands that make the most money. Then there’s rap and dj’s any bar you wanna walk into downtown on a weekend has a rapper or a dj spinning. It’s live music and we support it, but the metal community suffers here, and it’s taking a great amount of effort from bands and promoters to make the metal scene stand out again. The scene here is scattered, however we are slowly banding together with elite groups of musicians, promoters, managers/agents to once again put Chicago back on the map as a premiere city to go to, to enjoy great live entertainment, in the metal community and beyond.

9. What’s your take on legal/illegal music downloading?
It’s gonna happen, people lie cheat and steal, that’s how it always was and will be. It sucks, we wish it didn’t happen but it does. All we can say is protect yourself try to keep your art from being stolen and just hope that everyone enjoys it. If you download it and you like it go buy it because if it was you, you would want someone to buy your music.

10. What’s next for As King?

More recording, some touring, writing definitely, and overall just growing as a band. We have a new guitarist Larry Herrera, who has taken over lead guitar duty, and we can’t wait to start writing new material with him. Project Independent tour this summer has been confirmed, we are currently working on about four new songs, a music video or two, new art work for t-shirts, posters, album artwork etc…

11. Any shoutouts?

Aidas and Steve and everyone at VIE Studios, Billy K and Bielarz from No One, Matthew Coglianese, Rob Wallace from Metal Head Radio, Scott Davidson from Rebel Radio, Rodney Rodgzee Jackson and Mophi & Mophyne Records, Dustin from Dustins Designs, Jeff Trotten and everyone from Project Independent, Jacek Leja and the people at the Doc Metal show on 88.9 fm in Chicago, Tim Lamping and everyone at 105.5 The Kat in Joliet, Corrie Rox, Bill “Mugly” Mullen, John Kronenberger, Mike “H Dawg” Hrynko Terry “Trademark” Martin, Mike Bohn, and everyone and From the Depths Entertainment. All our Metal brothers in arms who help make the Chicago music scene what it is and what it’s going to be; Mara, Bleed For the Fallen, Disrupting the Abacus, Damnation, and all the promoters like the Chicago Metal Alliance, and guys like Andrew Hardin, that are here doing their job trying to build a bigger better scene, and many more we thank you. Thank you to all the Venues and National acts we play with, it is definitely a pleasure to be able to get up on stage and do what we love to do with bands we love. Thanks you to all the radio stations and DJ’s that playing our music all over the world. To all our family, friends and fans for supporting us, dealing with the late nights and the long drives, and drunken debauchery, great times, many more to come.

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From The Depths Entertainment is a hybrid record label that works with the best up and coming artists from around the world. Contact us at ftdentertainment@gmail.com We bring you the best up and coming artists from around the world FIRST!!We work with artists of all genres so anyone that is interested, feel free to message us. We've worked with over 200 artists from around the world. We feel that different types of music should be respected and not shied away from. We have exposure to over 130 countries from around the world.